Taumata Arowai – The Water Services Authority
Know your responsibilities, protect your people, and take practical steps toward safer drinking water.
Safe Drinking Water for Aotearoa
The Water Services Authority, Taumata Arowai, is New Zealand’s water services regulator. It regulates drinking water supplies and monitors and reports on the environmental performance of public drinking water, wastewater and stormwater networks. Under the Water Services Act 2021, registered drinking water suppliers have a legal responsibility to ensure the water they supply is safe to drink.
To help suppliers meet those responsibilities, Taumata Arowai provides supply-type guidance, the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules 2022 (Revised 2024), Acceptable Solutions for eligible supply types, and the Hinekōrako portal for registration and ongoing management of supply information.
Compliance is not just about paperwork.
Safe drinking water depends on the whole system working together — source water, collection, storage, treatment, monitoring, maintenance, and, where relevant, distribution.
Who is a drinking water supplier?
Not every private water system is treated the same way. A stand-alone domestic dwelling with its own water supply is a domestic self-supply, and a shared domestic supply serving 25 or fewer people living in domestic dwellings is also treated differently. By contrast, non-residential and community supplies — such as cafés, marae, community halls, sports facilities, and other business or shared supplies — may still need to register and meet legal requirements even when they serve relatively small numbers of people.
The Water Services Act itself gives useful examples: a single property with tenants on a lease supplied by a rainwater tank is a domestic self-supply, while a café building supplied by a rainwater tank is not. That distinction matters when you are working out whether registration and supplier duties apply.
Do these rules apply to your water supply?
Step 1: Check who you supply water to
Step 1: Check who you supply water to
If the water is supplied only to a single stand-alone household, or to 25 or fewer people living in domestic dwellings, it may fall outside the registration regime. If you supply water as part of a business, public, community, or shared arrangement, you should check your supply against Taumata Arowai’s current supply-type guidance.
Step 2: Check whether your supply needs to be registered
All drinking water supplies other than domestic self-supplies and shared domestic supplies must be registered. Existing suppliers that were operating before 15 November 2021 and were not previously registered have until 15 November 2028 to register. The full set of other legal responsibilities for those legacy unregistered supplies applies from November 2030, although the duty to supply safe drinking water already applies. New supplies established since 15 November 2021 must register and meet relevant requirements from the time they begin operating.
Step 3: Choose the right compliance pathway
Depending on your supply type, compliance may involve the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules, an Acceptable Solution, or other supply-specific requirements. Current Acceptable Solutions are available for mixed-use rural supplies, small to medium networks, and self-supplied buildings. For eligible suppliers, following an Acceptable Solution removes the need to prepare a drinking water safety plan and demonstrate compliance with the Rules for the matters covered by that solution.
Step 4: Keep your information and systems current
Taumata Arowai uses Hinekōrako to register and manage supply information. Registered suppliers now renew each supply every five years rather than annually, and they must keep supply details up to date. Where a drinking water safety plan is required, suppliers confirm it is current at renewal and must update it when significant changes are made. Supplies that serve 25 or fewer people no longer require a drinking water safety plan.
Step 5: Overwhelmed? Get the right help!
This is where Aqua Works comes in. The first challenge for many drinking water suppliers is simply understanding what applies to their supply. We help translate the rules into practical, site-specific next steps. From assessing your setup and testing your water to explaining the results, recommending the right treatment, and supporting installation and maintenance, we help you move toward safer, more reliable, and more compliant drinking water.
Overwhelmed?
Understanding your responsibilities can be the hardest part. Before you can make your water supply safer or more compliant, you first need to understand what kind of supply you have, what rules apply to it, and what practical steps are actually needed on your site. That is where Aqua Works comes in. Think of us as the translator between the legislation and the real-world water system you are managing.
We help take the confusion out of the process. We can assess your water source and existing setup, arrange water testing, explain the results in plain English, and help you understand what matters most for your supply. Then we can recommend fit-for-purpose treatment options and practical next steps, whether that means improving source protection, upgrading treatment, tightening maintenance, or planning toward compliance requirements.
Our goal is not just to help you tick a compliance box. It is to help you understand what needs to be done, why it matters, and how to move forward with a safer, more reliable drinking water supply. With Aqua Works, you get practical guidance, tailored solutions, and ongoing support from a local team that understands both water systems and the challenges of managing them in the real world.
How can Aqua Works help you to comply?
Aqua Works bridges the gap between regulation and real-world water systems. We help businesses and shared supplies move from uncertainty to action with practical support that makes compliance easier to understand and easier to implement. Our team helps with:
Water testing & water quality interpretation
Assessment of tank, bore and mains-fed systems
UV treatment and filtration solutions matched to your supply
Upgrades to improve treatment performance and reliability
Ongoing servicing and maintenance to keep systems operating properly
Expert support on your compliance path forward
Get the help you need to understand your duties and legal obligations. Our water expert team can shed light on your situation and provide clear guidance for safe drinking water in your business.
Compliance is not just about paperwork
Safe drinking water depends on the whole system working together — source water, collection, storage, treatment, monitoring, maintenance, and, where relevant, distribution. Taumata Arowai’s regulatory approach is focused on protecting public health and targeting the areas of greatest drinking water risk.
Local exertise. Local Trust. Aqua Works
We’re a local Warkworth team with experience across water purification, UV treatment, water filtration, water pumps, rain harvesting, and bore water treatment.
Our aim is to give you clear, practical support that fits your site, your source water, and your responsibilities.
Frequently Asked Questions about Taumata Arowai
What is Taumata Arowai?
Taumata Arowai is the Water Service Authority in Aotearoa. As such, it took over this duty from the Ministry of Health in 2021. The new provision supervises, manages and enforces the new Water Services Act (2021). Therefore, this act empowers the authority to establish a new regulatory system for safe drinking water for all New Zealanders.
Ultimately, Taumata Arowai is expected to improve public health by implementing system-wide reforms in drinking water, source waters, stormwater and wastewater, the Three Waters.
Who must comply with Taumata Arowai regulations?
That depends on the type of supply. Registered drinking water suppliers must comply with the Water Services Act 2021 and the requirements that apply to their supply type. Domestic self-supplies and shared domestic supplies serving 25 or fewer people living in domestic dwellings do not have specific responsibilities under the Act, including registration, drinking water safety plans, or the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules.
However, but non-residential or community supplies serving 25 or fewer people, such as cafés, community halls, sports facilities, marae, or other business premises, may still need to register and follow certain compliance steps depending on their supply type.
Confused? You’re not alone. Many water supply owners find the legislation, rules, and guidance difficult to navigate. That’s where our team can help. At Aqua Works, we regularly help property owners, businesses, and small community supplies understand whether the regulations apply to them and what practical steps — if any — they need to take.
If you’re unsure whether your water supply has compliance duties, our experienced team can help you work it out.
Call Aqua Works on 0800 278 296 and we’ll help you figure out where you stand.
What laws regulate drinking water in New Zealand?
The core legal framework includes the Water Services Act 2021, the Water Services (Drinking Water Standards for New Zealand) Regulations 2022, the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules 2022 (Revised 2024), and Acceptable Solutions issued by the Water Services Authority – Taumata Arowai where applicable.
Do small businesses need to comply?
Do all private supplies need to register?
No. Taumata Arowai’s supplier guidance states that domestic self-supply or shared domestic supply serving 25 or fewer people is not covered by the Water Services Act 2021. Hence, you do not need to register with Taumata Arowai, nor prepare a Drinking Water Safety Plan, nor follow the Drinking Water Quality Assurance Rules. Although there are still recommended steps to help keep those communities healthy.
Can Aqua Works help us work out what applies to our supply?
Yes. We can help assess your water source and setup, identify the likely supply type, recommend treatment and monitoring steps, and support the practical work needed to move toward safer, more reliable drinking water.
Be safe – Stay on the right side
Water is important to your business. Thus, Aqua Works has the experience and knowledge you need to help you meeting your legislative objectives.
Work with us to get you and your business water fit for the future.